


the strength that you've found

by helsinkibaby



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Rare Pair, Rhodeyfest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 06:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7496832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, you just need someone to be there for you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the strength that you've found

**Author's Note:**

> For RhodeyBingo square B1 "unlikely relationship"
> 
> Most of my ships are unlikely. With this one I may have outdone even me.

Sitting at the dressing table, Sharon read over her speech one more time, running a hand through her hair as she second and third guessed herself about what she wanted to say. Well, third guessing would be being kind about it - she'd gone over this a hundred times, if not two and she still wasn't happy. Her dad, her uncles, they had all told her not to be so hard on herself but she didn't hold with that - this was the last thing she would ever do for her Aunt Peggy. She wanted - she _needed_ it to be perfect. 

"Sharon." The voice behind her was quiet, gentle, as gentle as the hands that landed on her shoulders. She met Rhodey's eyes in the mirror, let herself lean back so that her head rested against his body. His hands squeezed her shoulders and her own reached up to cover his, fingers curling around fingers and holding on. "You've been over this," he told her because for at least one hundred of those two hundred second guesses, he'd been right by her side, offering his counsel, his ideas, his support. "It's exactly what she would want you to say." 

Sharon pressed her lips together, more at what he didn't say than what he did. Namely, that his opinion on the hot button political issue of the day - the Sokovia Accords - and what her aunt's opinion would likely have been, and what Sharon's opinion was, were poles apart. She and Rhodey had agreed to disagree about it, to leave politics at work or, at the very least, the bedroom door, and she knew he wasn't going to bring it up now. Not here, not today. 

"You know you didn't have to come." He blinked once, let his eyes go wide, like the thought hadn't even occurred to him. To be fair, it probably hadn't - he'd been the second person she texted after her father had called her and by the time she'd seen him that night, he'd already reserved two flights to London. It had been a surprise because they were still keeping whatever they were on the down low around The Avengers, and she certainly didn't think they were at the meeting the family stage. And yet, here he was, on the approving end of a conversation with her father and about to accompany her to Aunt Peggy's funeral. 

She didn't think she'd ever been so grateful to be wrong. 

In the mirror, she saw him shrug with one shoulder. "I wanted to be here," he said simply and he was so obviously sincere it made her smile. 

Reaching for her hairbrush, she stood, made her way to the full length mirror where she did her best to repair the damage she caused by running her hands through her hair. He came over to stand beside her, used the mirror to do up his tie, fashioning a perfect Windsor knot. Suddenly Sharon remembered being a child, sitting and watching as Aunt Peggy showed her father how to do that, tsking over his inability to master what she said was such a simple task. Rhodey had no trouble with it but Sharon turned to him anyway, let her fingers run down the length of the tie, pressing the black material down against his chest. His shirt was crisp and white, a razor sharp crease running down each pant leg and his suit jacket was hanging on the wardrobe door, immaculately pressed. "No dress uniform?" she wondered, because she did like to see him in his full regalia, but he just shook his head. 

"I'm not here representing the Air Force, or the Avengers," he reminded her and she remembered that she'd never actually asked him what he'd told Tony about where he was taking off to for a few days. "Just a friend of the family, that's all." 

Sharon lifted one eyebrow. "A friend?" 

Rhodey grinned as his arms slid around her waist. "A good friend," he allowed. "Maybe a... special friend?" 

Laying her head against his shoulder, Sharon took a deep breath. The familiar  scent of his cologne surrounded her and she allowed it to calm her, to centre her. He'd been doing that ever since she'd found out about Aunt Peggy, not taking over, not being flashy about it, just a calm, solid presence that had been there for her every step of the way. "I'm glad you're here," she told him truthfully because, while she knew she could have done this alone, it was equally nice to know that she didn't have to. 

She felt him place a gentle, careful kiss to the top of her head, closed her eyes as he whispered, "Me too." 

"I wish she could have met you properly," she heard herself say, meaning before Aunt Peggy had become sick. "She would have loved you." 

"It's funny," Rhodey said, his fingers tracing up her spine, "but I already feel like I knew her." She expected him to reference SHIELD, her aunt's public persona. Instead, he demonstrated once again his great ability to say what she needed to hear to bolster her courage, and he did it by paying her the greatest compliment he possibly could. "She was just like you." 


End file.
